Missing Presumed Dead
by gabiabi
Summary: olivia literally bumps into a girl on the street. who is she and why won't she speak? why is she outside in the winter without a coat....
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As Detective Olivia Benson made her the way through the crowds of shoppers she tried to keep hold of what little Christmas cheer she had managed to muster. She shook her head in disbelief that it was that time of year already as the hundredth person barged past her, shopping bags trailing behind to catch her legs on the way by. She realised now her mistake of venturing into the mayhem and wished she had just stayed in her bed that morning instead of getting up to come into work. She'd had to leave her car in the garage two blocks away and had thought nothing of the short walk ahead until she had been shoved, shouted at and moaned at for even daring to walk where other people wanted to be. Her fingers brushed by her badge in her pocket and thought of how much simpler it would be just to flash it and start demanding people got out of her way. Smiling at the image this thought had formed in her head, she continued on her way, head down, aiming to arrive at work in one piece.

Suddenly she found herself crashing to the ground taking whoever had just barged into her down with her. Whilst some passers-by stopped to help them up, Olivia had to snatch her hand away quickly to stop them from being stood on by other, oblivious – or just rude – pedestrians. Assuring the thoughtful ones that she was okay she was helped up and all attention was on the other poor soul who had gone down with her. As she bent down to check on her she realised that this was a child, a young girl, and she hadn't made a sound nor moved an inch. She just was lying curled on the pavement as though sleeping. As she felt for a pulse, Olivia sighed with relief as her cold fingers found one beating strongly. Taking her hand away she brushed her finger softly along the girl's cheek trying to get some sort of response from her. She opened her eyes and Olivia gasped at the hurt and the fear she saw within them.

Realising that everyone was still crowding round Olivia finally got to pull out her badge and demand that everyone stand back. She dug out her phone but, even as she dialled emergency services she stopped and dialled her office instead, something inside her telling her that this girl needed more than an ambulance, more than just some bandages and painkillers. She reached for the girls hand and squeezed it tightly as she waited for the ringing phone to be answered.

"Elliot"

"Elliot, its Olivia. I have a young girl approx 12 years old, just outside the office on the corner. She bumped into me and we both fell…"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a couple of bruises I expect. There's something not right here though. I was going to phone an ambulance but she doesn't seem to be injured. She hasn't spoken or responded at all. She's just lying here…can you come down and help me get her up there so we can decide what's best for her?"

"Is there no one with her?"

"She's just on her own. She's not even dressed for December, Elliot. She's got no jacket, no scarf no gloves…and her eyes...they're so lost; so sad, so scared. Elliot, I'm telling you, there's something very wrong here."

"I'm on my way down."

"Thank you."

As she put her phone away, Olivia kept her gaze on the girl trying to reassure her, to banish the hopelessness that seemed to permeate her every breath.

"My partner's on his way down. We'll get you inside and warm. Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."

Even as she said it, Olivia wondered if she was promising the impossible, whether there would be anything anyone could do to fix this. Whatever "this" was…

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my first Law and order fanfic. Was watching it last night and decided…hey, I like this program. I like these characters, I'm gonna do something with that. And have done. Not much yet – but it'll become more.

Any characters you recognise don't belong to me yadayadayada……

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Elliot didn't need to phone Olivia back to ask her exactly where she was. As soon as he came out of the main entrance he saw the crowd standing around what must be his partner and her mystery girl. Edging his way through the spectators he broke through to the clearing where Olivia knelt beside the still form, whispering words only she could hear. If indeed she was even hearing them. From this distance Elliot couldn't even tell whether the girl was alive, only the mere fact that Olivia was still talking to her reassured him that she was. He reached down and gently tapped Olivia's shoulder, not wanting to startle her or the girl.

"Olivia…"

"Elliot. We need to get her inside, away from everyone watching. She isn't talking but I can tell she's listening. She knows what's going on – or at least she knows I'm trying to help."

"How do you want to work this?"

"Get this crowd away from us for a start. I've told them to stay back but I don't want to scare her by shouting anymore."

"No bother Liv. Right everyone, this is not a show. Everyone back off now – go about your business. This is a police matter now."

At Elliot's command the crowd began to disperse, curiosity finally overcome by their need to concentrate on their own individual lives. He crouched down beside them but, as he came closer, the girl began to cry. She didn't cry the hysterical tears of the angry, or the panicked tears of the scared. Instead her eyes just filled with tears which spilled out over her eyelashes whilst the rest of her remained in the same position as before, her heaving chest the only other sign of her emotion.

Olivia automatically pulled the girl into her arms, her eyes searching for any hint as to what was going on. As she failed to find any answers she looked up to Elliot, her eyes asking the question she knew he too was wondering. He shook his head and shrugged, as confused as she. The tears faded as quickly as they had appeared and, though Olivia still held her in her arms she could feel the gulf between them as the girl shrank much further inside her head.

"Elliot we need to get her up."

"It's alright Liv. I'm on it."

Leaning forward he helped Olivia stand and supported the girl as they both lifted her from the ground. She made no effort to support her own weight and, having no other alternative; Elliot picked her up as if she were his own child. He began walking towards the front entrance to their building, stopping only to make sure Olivia was following.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter3

Elliot and Olivia ignored the puzzled glances they were receiving from their colleagues as they walked past the desks and into one of the interview rooms with the girl. After sitting her down, Elliot motioned to Olivia to come with him outside the room so they could decide what they were going to do. The pair stood at the doorway studying the heartbreaking sight of a lost little girl who couldn't even tell them her name. Although Elliot was moved at the plight he saw in front of him he also knew that upstairs on their desks lay cases yet unsolved. People they still had to find justice for and, although he could tell that Olivia was already attached, he knew he had to try and save her the pain of finding out the rest of the story. He had to give her the out.

"Olivia…we don't know that this is an SVU case. We can hand this over to another department. It's up to you – your call. We can…"

"Stop, Elliot, we can't. We can't walk away from this. She's one of ours – I can feel it. Dammit Elliot I can SEE it! Can't you? Look at her and tell me she's not an SVU case. Look into her eyes Elliot. Something very bad has happened here and I'll be damned if I give this to someone else to 'deal' with."

"Okay…Olivia…okay. We're on this case. I'm not fighting you here. Save your anger for when we find out who did what here. I'm sorry I even suggested handing it over – I just thought it may be easier."

At his quiet, gentle tone Olivia relented and let go of her anger at him and his suggestion. She knew he was one of the last people in the world that would ever walk away from one of their cases; that he would fight with every breath in his body for every single victim they had met She also knew he could see how involved she already was with this child and was trying to save her from the hurt that would inevitably come with investigating the case. Turning away from him, she tried to compose herself but when she looked back at him she still had tears of anger and sorrow glittering in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Elliot. I didn't mean to go off on one at you. I just can't let her go. Not now, not yet. She needs us to fight for her, she's forgotten how to."

"Alright, then that's what we're going to do. I'll go let Captain Cragen know what's happening and get Fin and Munch working on an I.D. Not sure how successful it'll be but I'll get them to pull missing person reports that match her specifics."

"I'm not leaving her. I'm staying here with her. Maybe she'll talk once she knows she's safe."

"Okay. I'll be back once I've filled them in. We need to think about probably getting her to a doctors or the hospital. Will you try to get a picture – something for us to compare to the reports or release to the press if it comes to that?"

Olivia nodded in agreement and opened the door to the interview room, ready to try once more to obtain some sort of response from the girl. Elliot patted her arm and held her gaze, giving her the strength she needed before starting off up the corridor towards Captain Crager's office. She watched him go and let the door close softly behind him before turning to the child sitting in front of her at the table. They had managed to get her seated and she now sat with her arms dangling down beside her as if even lifting them to rest on the table would use up energy that she just did not have. Her fair hair hung loose over her shoulders with her side swept fringe covering one of her eyes almost entirely.

Olivia pulled the other chair so that she was facing the girl and sat across from her, holding her small hands in hers. As she gently but resolutely tried to form any sort of vocal connection with the girl she realised that they were not equipped to deal with her there. She knew she had to get her to the hospital and have a doctor examine her – for injuries not visible to the naked eye; damage that was possibly more mental than physical.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Elliot had returned from upstairs, they escorted the girl out to his car and drove her to the nearest emergency room. Unable to provide the admitting nurse with any details, Elliot had to flash his badge twice before they were shown to an examining room to await a doctor. He then stayed outside as Olivia took the girl in and got her settled on the bed. Olivia wrapped the blanket from the bed around the girl's shoulders and attempted to explain why they were there.

"We're just waiting for a doctor to come see you. To make sure you're alright physically and find out what's wrong. There's nothing to be scared about, we're all just trying to help. I won't let anyone hurt you…I promise."

Even as she said it, Olivia realised that the girl didn't seem scared about it all; she didn't seem to be feeling any emotion. If the girl understood her she showed no sign and continued staring blankly at Olivia. Olivia smoothed her hair down across her head and sat beside the bed on the chair usually used for friends or parents or family. The only reassuring thing about it all was that the girl turned her gaze to her as she sat, showing that she wasn't totally gone – she still knew Olivia was there with her. They sat that way in silence for a good half hour waiting for someone to come and see them until, finally, a nurse came in and began taking her vitals.

"Olivia…"

At the sound of her partner's voice Olivia turned away from the bed to see his head peeking in the door, his expression unsure of whether to come in or not. She got up from her chair and, after stroking the girl's hand and telling her she would be right outside, she followed him back outside into the corridor.

"Liv…Fin just phoned to say they've found her. Her name is Eva Taylor and she's fifteen."

"She's fifteen? She doesn't look any older than twelve or thirteen. Are they sure that's our girl? How did they find her?"

"They took her fingerprints from the interview room we were in earlier and the lab just got a match off an old case from Missing persons. The girls disappeared…"

As Elliot was speaking, Olivia was signing off the medical consent papers for the nurse who had approached them mid-conversation. At his last words she stopped so abruptly she scrawled pen over the rest of the form. She jerked her head up to look at him, searching – hoping - for any hint that he had misspoken, or she had misheard.

"'Girls'? You mean 'girl' surely…"

"No, I don't. She disappeared with one of her friends – Rachel Stirling who turns sixteen tomorrow if she's still alive. The two of them were walking home from school together and just never arrived home. The file is being looked out for us as we speak and they're going to send the next of kin details up to the Captain. Fin and Munch can perhaps get started on that. Hopefully we'll be able to give Eva a familiar face to bring her out of this. "

Olivia looked through the window into Eva's room, watching the nurse talking away to herself as she worked in an attempt to bring Eva out of her silent state. As Olivia caught her unrelenting stare she tried to smile, to reassure her that everything would be fine whilst knowing that it may very well not be. She found herself thinking about the friend who should be sitting beside her, the pair of them safe with only the memories that fifteen year olds should have. There was a gnawing sensation within her that there was something even more wrong about the whole situation and was jolted back to reality with the realisation of what was amiss about it all.

"Elliot, why aren't their faces all over the news? Why have none of us recognised her? Surely two fifteen year olds vanishing should still make it to the front of the papers! Were they just dismissed as runaways? Where are the parents in all this – they should be kicking up a fuss and demanding their children found no matter what age!"

"It _was_ on the front of the papers – only it wasn't two fifteen year olds. They were only twelve and thirteen when it happened. The case was from over two and a half years ago Liv. That's why Fin and Munch came up empty on their search of missing person reports. They were looking for recent cases – and ones that only involved one girl, not two. Now that I know them, the names ring a bell for me – I remember seeing their pictures plastered across the fronts of all the papers; their mothers begging for their safe return on each and every news channel. We didn't recognise her because she's changed – she's grown up. They've been gone for almost thirty one months and in that time there's been too many other headlines, so many more victims that they've faded away into the back of our minds. But she's back now, and the other one of them is still missing. Rachel's still out there … somewhere."

The two of them just looked at each other in silence, both trying to take in the information and make sense of it all. Not only did they not know what had happened to this girl, but they had another one still missing, still potentially being hurt at that precise moment – if she had even survived the past two and a half years. Suddenly the haunted look in the girl's eyes all made sense to Olivia and her heart broke anew for her. She now recognised it for what it was – it was not just the look of innocence destroyed as she had thought. It was that of a victim too broken to even know how to feel anything anymore – an empty shell.


	5. Chapter 5

Leaving Olivia to go back to the girl's side, Elliot left the hospital and returned to the precinct to consult with the rest of the team. As he walked through the front doors he realised how short a time it had been since Olivia had phoned him from the street. It had only been a little over two hours since the phone had started ringing and her worried tone had pulled him away from anything and everything else. He only hoped that the case could be solved and the perpetrator caught as quickly for Eva's and for the still-missing-Rachel's sakes.

He walked through the desks towards their group where both Fin and Munch sat at their desks with phones to their ears, each one engaged in what was obviously not their first phone call of the day. Perching himself on the side of Fin's desk he started to look at the case file they had pulled on the missing girls, all the while listening to the one-sided conversations going on beside him.

"Sir, if I could just…yes I understand but…I'm just trying to…"

"uh huh…uh huh…yup…you said that already…Look lady, all I need to know is where they are now, I don't care who said what about why they left their previous house. Do they still live at this address or not?"

Elliot shook his head and grinned at the exasperation on both their faces. Munch seemed to be getting nowhere but it looked as though Fin's outburst could have finally led him somewhere as he was busily scribbling on a notebook. At Elliot's questioning look he gave him the thumbs up and returned to his conversation briefly before setting the phone down with a flourish.

"Finally! I've got the address for Rachel's parents – their cleaning lady just confirmed it. They've moved six times since the abduction. Apparently they've split up and got back together almost as many times so each has had several forwarding addresses along the way. All of which I've had to phone! I'm telling you Elliot, it's a good thing it's been worth it. They've ended up not far from where they began - just two blocks away from their address we have on file."

"Why'd you have to phone around to find out their new address? Why have they not kept us informed when they've moved in case new information turns up – or we find their daughter?"

"Well, I spoke to their neighbour at the time of the disappearance and she said there was some 'ill-feeling' between them and the police investigating. Apparently they took a rather harsh and personal route of questioning and, when the 'neighbours' – i.e. her – found out about them being possible suspects they were less than sympathetic to say the least. After six months of hearing nothing and being hounded by both the media and their fellow citizens, Mr and Mrs Stirling became Mr Stirling and Ms Gell and went their separate, angry ways."

Captain Cragen had come out of his office in time to hear Munch's explanation and stood nodding his head in resigned agreement. Sighing, he took the case-file from Eliot's hands and, after checking something on it, he began to speak.

"I've just came off the phone to the lead officer on the case. To say he was surprised we had found Eva is quite possibly the understatement of the year. He admitted that they had all thought that one or both of the Stirling's were responsible and that the two girls were long dead. Unfortunately not all of his team were too careful about concealing their opinions and a couple of them not so subtly revealed them to the Stirling's before he could rein them in."

"What made the team suspect them?"

"There were more than a few inconsistencies in their stories – most of which could possibly be explained by the fact that both parties were having affairs with married women."

"Both…?"

"Yes, both. It came out later that Mr Stirling was sleeping with a woman at his work and Mrs Stirling – now Ms Gell – was having an affair with her daughter's married and female piano teacher. While these affairs don't rule out the possibility of their involvement, they may go some way to explaining a lot of the discrepancies found in both parents' stories."

Whilst the captain had been speaking, Munch had finally came off his seemingly never-ending phone call. He had caught the tail-end of their conversation and was rubbing his hands over his face as if wishing he had some better news for them. Realising he was not exactly being forthcoming with his phone-a-thon results, Cragen turned to him expectantly.

"Well…What about Eva's next of kin? Have you tracked down her parents yet, John?"

"More bad news I'm afraid. Eva's father died when she was two and her mother died about two months ago."

"What...How?"

"Coroner's report states cause of death as accidental overdose, possible suicide. She was found barely conscious in her house by a neighbour and rushed to hospital but she died before she arrived."

Elliot, Cragen and Fin looked at Munch in dismay, knowing that Eva's story had suddenly just got a lot worse. All three's thoughts turned to the lost child in the hospital with Olivia, more alone in the world than anyone had thought.


End file.
